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April 20, 2009 1:02 p.m. TAftonomos New Reader

I'm headed out to look at a miata after work.

95 car, 110k miles, black, paint looks good in the pictures. Top in great shape, interior nice.

Lady says a guy came to look at it yesterday, told her it has a crank pulley problem.

I'm aware of the short nose 1.6 issue, but I'm assuming the long nose 1.8 can have the same problem.

I'm buying this car to have a good cheap time. Worse case, it needs a new motor? She says she drives it everyday, and has for years.

Best case? New pulley, bolt, and keyway?
April 20, 2009 1:24 p.m. RandyS New Reader

While it is possible for the pulley to have been beat on and gorilla installed causing it to have issues, the large nose cranks usually don't have an issue.

You need to look at it and decide yourself.

If there are no wobbles, the pully is tight ot the crank and the keyway is not loose then the prospect buyer may have just been trying to get the price down
April 20, 2009 1:31 p.m. MiaTurbo New Reader

It's also possible that the balancer may have a natural wobble to it. I've seen plenty like that and ran them at the drags. It could also be that the other perspective buyer was making something up to a non-car person seller to get a better deal.
April 20, 2009 2:02 p.m. Keith SuperDork

I've seen a number of 1.8s with bad cranks. It's almost always a direct result of bad mechaniking, usually a loose bolt and not a tight one.

If it's a crank nose problem, then pulling the pulley off will reveal what must be done. In most cases, it can be fixed.

If not, then no worries :) Go have a look yourself.
April 20, 2009 2:25 p.m. Clay Reader

I just picked up a cheap 1.8 Miata with engine trouble. Just remember that 1.8's can be had cheap in the worst case scenario of needing to replace the engine. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/1000-overheated-miata/9141/page1/
April 20, 2009 4:50 p.m. TAftonomos New Reader

Well, of course it wasn't as good as I hoped.

129K miles, hail damage on hood/trunk, and a weird noise when moving the car forward or back, and then coming to a stop. Doesn't give the squeel that a pilot bearing or grinding a throwout bearing does, but it's definatly coming from the bellhousing area...so I'd assume it's got something to do with the clutch.

Hopefully I can find a better deal out there, bu the hail damage does take away quite a bit from the car.

2K is probably too much to pay.